Hello, friends,
We need a very special home for our boy Norville—he has been through so much and just wants to live his life as a loved and cherished member of a family. We are looking for an adults-only home where Norville will be the ONLY pet (for a unique reason—read on) and will enjoy the comforts of being a “homebody” with just his special people.
This past summer, Norville was humanely trapped by HARTT on a Native American reservation. He was emaciated and had a severely embedded collar around his neck. Norville was initially treated at the Arizona Humane Society (AHS) where he was set on the road to recovery. AHS reached out to their partners (including DLRR), realizing that being a shy boy, Norville would benefit from being in a quiet, loving foster home. We immediately said yes—how could we resist this tender, loving dog?
Norville went into his foster home where he bonded with his foster parents and their other dogs. He was so happy there! But soon, his foster mom noticed that Norville seemed to be in pain and walked a bit funny, so DLRR began the diagnostic process of finding out what was going on, even getting him an MRI to assess what was wrong. Several BBs were found lodged in his body—who would do this to such a tender, loving dog?!! The MRI also showed some inflammation around the spinal cord, and so more tests were performed.
The news we received deeply saddened all of us—Norville has a bacterial infection called brucellosis (a reproductive disease) that is contagious (not easily, but still possible) to other dogs. In fact, there is no treatment that will eliminate this condition 100%. Even though he loves other dogs, Norville cannot be in a home with them or go to dog parks, etc. He can go on walks if he is kept away from contact with other dogs. (Important note—Norville lived in the foster home with 3 other dogs, drank from communal water bowls, and played with them before the condition was diagnosed, and all the other dogs in the foster home tested negative – the risk of transmission to others is low.) The condition can also technically be transmitted to people; however, the greatest risk is to breeders and veterinarians who whelp the puppies of an infected dog. Contracting the condition from a family pet is much less common because pet owners don’t routinely deal with reproductive tract fluids or large amounts of blood.
Sandra Newbury, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) Clinical Assistant Professor, states that there is little risk for other pets and members of the public. “There’s a very low risk of transmission for canine brucellosis outside of breeding operations,” she says.
At the moment, Norville is housed at our veterinary clinic in isolation, but he’s lonely and sad. He needs to be in a loving home. He is under treatment and getting physically better all the time, but now it’s time for him to find “his person.” Could that be you? His best “person/people” would be a stable, healthy, loving family who likes to stay home and can envision spending lots of quality time with Norville in their home and yard, playing and cuddling, and who lead a quiet lifestyle with limited visitors and no other animal visitors. DLRR and HARTT are teaming up to make sure that any necessary medical care for Norville is covered through the end of 2021, which should be more than enough to get him over the hump and on the road to stability.
If you would like to know more, and/or might consider adopting Norville, please reach out to Desert Labrador Retriever Rescue (DLRR) at 480-899-5227 or info@dlrr.org so we can tell you more about this sweet boy who deserves to know the love of a “real” home. Please allow 24 to 48 hours for a response.
